JRL NEWSWATCH VIDEO: “A Russian ‘spy whale’ is having too much fun to leave Norway” – NBC/ Tony Brown, David K. Li

Map of Norway and Region, with Norway Highlighted, adapted from image at cdc.gov

“‘The whale was really friendly and came up to us and started opening its mouth, and just checking us out,’ a Norwegian official said.” “… A beluga whale – found in Arctic Norway with a camera harness strapped to its head – has been joyously seeking out human contact and is in no hurry to swim back …. The whale […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “To prepare for soccer’s World Cup, Russia is killing stray dogs. Animal-rights activists are fighting back” – Los Angeles Times/Sabra Ayres

File Photo of Dog at Animal Shelter Jumping Up on Person in Winter Clothing, With Beseeching Look

“… with the FIFA World Cup starting June 14, the issue is again in focus after seven of the 11 host cities issued calls to kill street dogs ahead of the games.  Russia has a problem with strays … Rostov-on-Don, like a majority of Russian cities, conducts an annual culling of the packs …. Government contracts pay as much as […]

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Putin Helps Russian Pet Lover to Get a New (Welsh) Puppy

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 20, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin may have set a dangerous precedent after convincing a retired soldier to buy his wife a pet pooch, possibly spawning a wave of similar requests from animal-lovers nationwide. “Please just say to him: ‘Boris, you’re wrong! Let your wife have a dog!’ We’ve already tried everything,” a woman […]

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Yeltsin’s Bear Will Retire to Better Digs Outside Moscow

File Photo of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 31, 2013) The brown bear that former president Boris Yeltsin gave to the Moscow zoo will be moved to a new location so that he can meet his old age “with dignity,” the zoo’s director Sergei Popov said at a press conference Tuesday. The zoo had previously received numerous letters from visitors, complaining that […]

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